I need a home wireless hook-up

spinner

spinner

If I were the hysterical type, I suppose I would have shaved my own head by now :grumpy:

I have a wireless connection through my cable company. It has taken me an HOUR to send an email with a .mp4 attachment. I am still trying to send the .avi attachement.

My signal, today of all days, is at about 25% - 30%.

I need a home hook up. Does anyone have a home wireless connection that they particularly like? I am going to need one of these really soon because it should not take this long to send anything....


AAAAUUUUGGGGHHH!!!:grumpy:

-- spinner :cool:
 
I have used Clearwire for two years and it works well.
http://clearwire.net/
How large a file is that attachment you are trying to send--if a large video file then maybe it does take an hour to send. Uploads take at least twice as long as downloads. What does your system report is the kb/s transfer speed? Maybe check connections, cables. How old is your ethernet/wifi (nic, LAN) card or onboard eth motherboard? eth cards burn out, I have had a couple just fail and also seen that with friends. Maybe buy a new ethernet card and try that.

spinner said:
...I have a wireless connection through my cable company. It has taken me an HOUR to send an email with a .mp4 attachment. I am still trying to send the .avi attachement. My signal, today of all days, is at about 25% - 30%. I need a home hook up. Does anyone have a home wireless connection that they particularly like? I am going to need one of these really soon because it should not take this long to send anything....
Click to expand...
 
Hi Spinner,

1) What are the sizes of the mp4 and the avi files? (How many GB or MB?) Some email providers have a limit on the attachment sizes. If they are too big, the emails won't go through. Ever. What is the email provider that you are sending from (i.e. yahoo, comcast, etc.)? Check their attachment restrictions.

2) Assuming that the files are small enough (and point #1 is not the issue), certain things can interfere with your wireless signal. How far away is your computer from the actual wireless access point (router/modem/box) you are connecting to? Are there any walls/floors/microwaves/TVs between you and that box? If you use a laptop computer, try to move closer to the wireless access point, and see if the signal strength/quality increases. Does this increase help the performance?

3) The quality of cable internet varies depending on what neighborhood you live in. I use Comcast, and it's OK. Comcast's service is great in some places, and it's terrible in others. Check to see what your neighbors and local friends are using. If they use the same company that you use, you may need to compare speeds. I just doubled my upload speed and almost tripled my download speed for $10.00 more per month. Please check items # 1 and # 2 before you spend any money. I believe your issue lies in one of those 2 areas.

I hope this helps.

--Charles
 
Another thought: is a neighbor leaching off your bandwidth (are you using WEP or WPA encryption? are you hiding your SSID [name of your network]?). I use WEP 64 and most importantly turn off the broadcasting of your SSID then a neighbor does not even see your network.
 
I could be wrong, but I believe that Spinner's access point is a neighborhood access point provided by her cable company. She does not have her own wireless LAN. This is one of the slowest ways to access cable internet service, but it is convenient and less expensive.

The question of the size of those attachments remains. Even with a wired cable connection, upload speeds can be as low as 30KB/second. I would guess that the wireless connection would exceed that speed, when it is functioning well.

So, Spinner. Take the size of your attachment in MB's and multiply it by 35 and that is about how many seconds it should take for uploading. If it takes more than 3 times that long, you are right ... it's too slow. Note: You really shouldn't be attaching more than a few MBs to an e-mail.
 
okay, I suck at math....

For the .mp4 file: 7.3mb x 35 = 255.5 divide by 60 sec. = (4sec.)

For the .avi file: 62.7mb x 35 = 2194.5 divide by 60sec = (36sec.) It was WAY longer than this....

My wireless is provided by my cable system (Charter). And the reason that I assumed it was my signal is because the signal indicator was down to about 25% :D

Plus, it is inconvenient to my office, which gets no signal at all, I have to cart my laptop down the stairs, up the stairs, down the stairs, up the stairs where my hard drive is in my office. Its irritating but until I can get a wireless do-hickey, I guess I'll give my legs a workout. And no I don't think that anyone is leeching off of my signal.

There are different brands of wireless set ups, just as there are Western Digital and Maxtor hard drives. I was just wondering if anyone had a brand that they especially liked, and what it was I should look for when I get enough money to purchase one.

....all of this is helpful, though....:)

-- spinner :cool:
 
I started using Linksys, but the first one went out on me after about a year. The second one kept giving me low signal upstairs and a lot of connection problems with both the Nintendo Wii and the PS3, and the antenna on it wasn't removable where I could use a larger one. Now I'm using a D-Link with an add-on 4db antenna. I can go anywhere in the house and even into the backyward now with my laptop and still get strong signal.

I broadcast my SSID, but I do use security (128-bit). I did have it setup where the SSID was hidden, but for some reason my PS3 had a hard time with it. That was before I switched to the D-Link, though, so I will probably try to hide it again and see how it goes.
 
OK so I think i picture your setup: cable internet comes into your home, attached to a wifi router, then if that is the case you may need a better wifi router to reach your system on your home LAN that is attempting the transfers. I recently had a similar issue and upgraded my wifi router to one of the new wifi routers that have extended range and it made a HUGE improvement.

spinner said:
okay, I suck at math....

For the .mp4 file: 7.3mb x 35 = 255.5 divide by 60 sec. = (4sec.)

For the .avi file: 62.7mb x 35 = 2194.5 divide by 60sec = (36sec.) It was WAY longer than this....

My wireless is provided by my cable system (Charter). And the reason that I assumed it was my signal is because the signal indicator was down to about 25% :D

Plus, it is inconvenient to my office, which gets no signal at all, I have to cart my laptop down the stairs, up the stairs, down the stairs, up the stairs where my hard drive is in my office. Its irritating but until I can get a wireless do-hickey, I guess I'll give my legs a workout. And no I don't think that anyone is leeching off of my signal.

There are different brands of wireless set ups, just as there are Western Digital and Maxtor hard drives. I was just wondering if anyone had a brand that they especially liked, and what it was I should look for when I get enough money to purchase one.

....all of this is helpful, though....:)

-- spinner :cool:
Click to expand...
 
Joe999 said:
OK so I think i picture your setup: cable internet comes into your home, attached to a wifi router, then if that is the case you may need a better wifi router to reach your system on your home LAN that is attempting the transfers. I recently had a similar issue and upgraded my wifi router to one of the new wifi routers that have extended range and it made a HUGE improvement.
Click to expand...

I could be mistaken, but I think Spinner is using what they call "Road Runner Lite" in my neighborhood. The cable company provides the wifi access point somewhere outside the home. I don't use this setup, so I'm not 100% clear on how they do it, but you install a wireless card in your machine and they take care of everything else. I believe Spinner is asking what sort of Wifi system we recommend, as she does not have one at this time.

Spinner, to answer the question I think you are asking ... I only use my wireless for roaming around the house or yard, as my office machines are all wired. So, I bought a cheap "Zonet" Wifi router from meritline.com when I was placing an order for DVD blanks. I think it cost $20. Strangely enough, it works quite well for me. I can roam over 100 feet outside the house and still have wireless. It works everywhere in the house. I don't necessarily recommend it, as there are many better routers out there, but it may do everything you want and it's cheap. The one caveat is that I live in a remote area with no neighbors close by and very little need for real security. WEP (the old, broken security protocol) is sufficient for my purposes, but you may want something that specifically supports WPA (the newer, more secure security protocol). It is important that you secure your wireless network. Even though you may not mind letting someone tap into your unused bandwidth, the authorities will be knocking on YOUR door if anyone does anything illegal through your access point.
 
That is weird, and unknown to me. I always get my wifi direct to my home, then to my router which distributed wifi to my house (LAN). I guess I do not have a clue how to help if the wifi comes from some neighborhood access point, except perhaps to boost the receptions somehow. For example, I have seen websites that show how easy it is to boost a wifi antenna for greater reception/sending using a simple bowl, aluminum foil, etc. Perhaps that might apply?
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=boost+wifi+reception&btnG=Google+Search

oakstreetphotovideo said:
I could be mistaken, but I think Spinner is using what they call "Road Runner Lite" in my neighborhood. The cable company provides the wifi access point somewhere outside the home. I don't use this setup, so I'm not 100% clear on how they do it, but you install a wireless card in your machine and they take care of everything else. I believe Spinner is asking what sort of Wifi system we recommend, as she does not have one at this time....
Click to expand...
 
I'm not sure, but I hope Spinner's plan is to change her internet service to a wired cable connection that comes into her home, where she can connect as you describe. If she is not planning to "upgrade" her service (unless I'm misunderstanding her service), then she will have to do as you describe, to enhance her reception, as she has no control over the access point.

I could still be wrong here. This is just my interpretation of what she is saying, and one of my neighbors has a setup like this.
 
VPTurner said:
I started using Linksys, but the first one went out on me after about a year. The second one kept giving me low signal upstairs and a lot of connection problems with both the Nintendo Wii and the PS3, and the antenna on it wasn't removable where I could use a larger one. Now I'm using a D-Link with an add-on 4db antenna. I can go anywhere in the house and even into the backyward now with my laptop and still get strong signal.
Click to expand...

THIS is what I mean! Sorry for being so confusing, guys.... :blush:

Basically, what I am planning on doing is going into Best Buy or Office Depot and purchasing something. So, I guess I know to stay away from Linksys. When you go into these places, you have about a 50-50 chance of finding someone who knows about these routers.

I have seen D-Link, FireDog and Linksys and I was asking which of these you prefer. I am thinking I will need a booster so that the signal will go througout the house -- cable said that the metal studs in the house was why the signal was weak....

-- spinner :cool:
 
oakstreetphotovideo said:
I'm not sure, but I hope Spinner's plan is to change her internet service to a wired cable connection that comes into her home, where she can connect as you describe. If she is not planning to "upgrade" her service (unless I'm misunderstanding her service), then she will have to do as you describe, to enhance her reception, as she has no control over the access point.

I could still be wrong here. This is just my interpretation of what she is saying, and one of my neighbors has a setup like this.
Click to expand...

I do have a "bundle" that includes wireless internet, the problem is that I am not happy with the power of the signal. I can barely get the signal outside the room the router is. I figure if I buy my own router, I can get one with more power and I won't have to just pay the cable company for the wireless signal.

-- spinner :cool:
 
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